James Watt and the thermodynamic origins of productivity

The PBS "revolution of necessity" arc — wood shortage → coal → mine pumps → thermodynamics. Tom is mildly skeptical ("I don't know if I follow all that") but uses it as the productivity throughline.

There was a guy named James Watt who basically started studying the efficiency of pumps, for all you mechanical-engineering types. He wanted to know — because the owners of the coal mines wanted to know — whether they were spending more money on the pumps to get the water out than the coal they're bringing out. What's your efficiency factor? This was the beginning of thermodynamics. They call it the "revolution of necessity." Because they didn't have any wood, they went to coal. Because they had to mine coal efficiently and be productive about it — productivity again — they had to have water pumps. Because they had water pumps they had to understand the thermodynamics of engines. I don't know if I follow all that, but it's a nice story, and it made a good PBS special.